I’m starting an Art Foundation course this week.That sentence is both exciting and slightly terrifying. While students are heading back to university, I’ll be heading back into education myself, becoming a student again and learning how to navigate being a beginner. I’ll be taking instructions, making things I might not like, looking at other people’s work and, inevitably, comparing myself. I actually put the course off last year. But I’ve spent years telling my coaching clients to live fully, take risks, be bold and stop waiting until they feel ready. So I need to practise what I preach.
I was at the Tate recently seeing work by Frida Kahlo, Ana Mendieta and Julio Le Parc, and it got me thinking about how quickly we judge art. I love it. I hate it. I don’t get it. But there’s so much more to making and experiencing art than whether we like something or not. There’s the process, the meaning, the context, the questions it raises and what happens when we spend time with it.
Even the most prestigious, world-famous artists have work that people love and work that people hate. So I’m reminding myself that I don’t have to be good at this. I don’t have to compare myself to anyone else. I don’t even have to decide whether I like what I make.This is for fun. Trying something new is good for us. When we learn, experiment and step outside our usual patterns, we create new neural pathways in the brain. We give ourselves the chance to see things differently, think differently and discover something we might never have found by staying comfortable.
I’m doing this course because I want to learn, experiment and make things. I want to be a beginner again. I want to get out of my own way and see what happens. I’m also thinking about The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, one of my favourite books for anyone who feels creatively blocked or has been putting off their creative dreams. Creativity needs space, play and a willingness to try. So this week, as I walk into college, I’m going to stay curious and remind myself that I don’t need to know where this is going. I just need to stay the course.
If there’s something you’ve been putting off because you’re nervous, stuck or unsure what comes next, maybe it’s time to step outside your comfort zone too. Book a free clarity call with me and let’s talk about what you really want and what might be getting in the way. I can’t wait to hear from you! Rifa x
